8 ms·

I think it's the party engaging in voter suppression throughout the country, and the one that stripped the powers of the governor when someone from the other si

by notJim 7y ago

I think it's the party engaging in voter suppression throughout the country, and the one that stripped the powers of the governor when someone from the other side won, and the one that literally fled the state so that the legislature didn't have quorum and couldn't pass legislation, even though they were a clear minority. Or the one that refused to confirm a seat on the supreme court for nearly a year, in an unprecedented move. I could go on.

Frondo 7y ago
I have a couple of friends who are basically checked out when it comes to politics; they don't pay attention at all, and generally repeat what they hear from others, if asked. They'd say the same thing, "they're both the same," because it's an old and easy refrain to say "all politicians are crooks" -- no one will question you on it and you won't get called out for giving a non-answer to it. It could be that GP is also politically disengaged, in which case "they're all tribalists" is not an unreasonable position; yet not one that will shed a lot of light on any further topics.
gred 7y ago
I think GP has a point, and I'll illustrate by trying to simply flip the very convenient mirror that you've set up. Please get past the initial emotional response (canards! blasphemy!) and just realize that this is a paragraph that roughly half the country will read with a straight face and agree with. "I think it's the party engaging in voter fraud [1] throughout the country, and the one that tried to impeach the president when someone from the other side won [2], and the one that literally fled the state so that the legislature didn't have quorum and couldn't pass legislation [3], even though they were a clear minority. Or the one that falsely accused a supreme court nominee of rape [4], in an unprecedented move. I could go on." It's evident to me that people of all political bents in this country are extremely tribalistic, and none of the tribes count many saints among their numbers. Citations added simply to highlight that I'm not pulling any of this out of thin air: [1] https://www.heritage.org/voterfraud https://www.heritage.org/voterfraud [2] https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2019/politics/impeachment-support-house-democrats/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2019/politics/impeac... [3] https://www.npr.org/2011/02/17/133847336/wis-democratic-lawmakers-flee-to-prevent-vote https://www.npr.org/2011/02/17/133847336/wis-democratic-lawm... [4] https://reason.com/2018/11/05/brett-kavanaugh-due-process-false-rape/ https://reason.com/2018/11/05/brett-kavanaugh-due-process-fa...

by notJim 7y ago

Frondo 7y ago

I have a couple of friends who are basically checked out when it comes to politics; they don't pay attention at all, and generally repeat what they hear from others, if asked. They'd say the same thing, "they're both the same," because it's an old and easy refrain to say "all politicians are crooks" -- no one will question you on it and you won't get called out for giving a non-answer to it. It could be that GP is also politically disengaged, in which case "they're all tribalists" is not an unreasonable position; yet not one that will shed a lot of light on any further topics.

gred 7y ago

I think GP has a point, and I'll illustrate by trying to simply flip the very convenient mirror that you've set up. Please get past the initial emotional response (canards! blasphemy!) and just realize that this is a paragraph that roughly half the country will read with a straight face and agree with. "I think it's the party engaging in voter fraud [1] throughout the country, and the one that tried to impeach the president when someone from the other side won [2], and the one that literally fled the state so that the legislature didn't have quorum and couldn't pass legislation [3], even though they were a clear minority. Or the one that falsely accused a supreme court nominee of rape [4], in an unprecedented move. I could go on." It's evident to me that people of all political bents in this country are extremely tribalistic, and none of the tribes count many saints among their numbers. Citations added simply to highlight that I'm not pulling any of this out of thin air: [1] https://www.heritage.org/voterfraud https://www.heritage.org/voterfraud [2] https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2019/politics/impeachment-support-house-democrats/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2019/politics/impeac... [3] https://www.npr.org/2011/02/17/133847336/wis-democratic-lawmakers-flee-to-prevent-vote https://www.npr.org/2011/02/17/133847336/wis-democratic-lawm... [4] https://reason.com/2018/11/05/brett-kavanaugh-due-process-false-rape/ https://reason.com/2018/11/05/brett-kavanaugh-due-process-fa...